Anglican Arch Bishop Thabo Makgoba says South Africa has become a society that has not only inherited massive inequalities, but also accepts the continuation of inequalities.

Makgoba was preaching during a Midnight Mass at the St Georges Cathedral in Cape Town which ended at 12.30am.

He used his annual Christmas sermon to highlight what he calls a new struggle in South Africa.

According to Makgoba, “We have become a mere driven society which accepts and perpetuates the cruel weight of massive inequality we have inherited.”

He adds that South African society accepts economic inequality, service delivery inequality, healthcare inequality, education inequality and most seriously, the inequality of opportunities.

Makgoba further says South Africa has become a country that has forgotten to become courageous. He told the congregation that South Africans can only become anti-corrupt if they are pro-courage.

In Makgoba's words,"Courage is like fire, it was courage which ignited the old struggle and kept it burning until we emerged from the darkness of apartheid."

He adds: “Courage enables us to set ourselves, our community and our nation on fire and it is the light of courage that we need to rekindle this Christmas. The South Africa that I have lived in, in the last years, has forgotten to be courageous.

"We have allowed ourselves to live in and accept a society that is punished, penalised and severely disciplined for being courageous."